Looney Labs Icehouse Mailing list Archive

[Icehouse] New Game - "Famine"

  • FromGobleteer <gobleteer@xxxxxxxxx>
  • DateSun, 11 Feb 2007 18:55:53 -0500
I have a game I'm tinkering with, and if anyone could test the two-player version I'd much appreciate any comments. The premise of the game is that as a society becomes warlike, the warring tribes kills of the last farming tribe and are forced to stave off starvation as long as they can by killing one another to pillage their food. It can be played by any number of players, but like Homeworlds, the two-player game is somewhat different in play. The two-player game is the one presented here.

Materials
A 5X5 grid.
Two stashes of a particular color, using 12 pieces from each. /(One player can be handicapped by giving them less than 12 pieces, or giving the other player more, or both. There must be at least 24 pieces in total, but there is no upper limit.)///

Setup:
Draw pieces out of a bag at random. Place them on the grid in the order you draw them, leaving the center square empty. Each player will control one color of pieces.

Play:
Pieces can move/attack in any of the eight directions, or they can stay in place and defend. Suggested notation is something like "A4-A5" for a piece moving from one square to another, or "A3-A3" for one defending. Naturally, you can only move your own pieces. Each round, every piece will move simulatneously, so you'll need a sheet of paper to write the pieces' actions on. When both players write their pieces' actions down, reveal the papers and evaluate what happens.

1. Orient the pieces on the board so that they point in the direction of their action, or straight up if they are defending. 2. Mark pieces as DEAD or LIVING in some way, such as by placing zendo stones on them or marking a piece of paper. The owner of the pieces does not matter. A piece of one color may attack another piece of the same color.
If a piece is...
DEFENDING (staying in place)
If the defending piece is attacked by another piece; that is, one or more adjacent pieces are pointing at it, then the defending piece marked as LIVING. If the defending piece is not attacked by any other pieces; that is, no adjacent pieces are pointing at it, then the defending piece marked as DEAD.
MOVING or ATTACKING (to another square)
If an attacking/moving piece has another adjacent piece pointing at it, then it is marked as DEAD. If an attacking/moving piece does not have an adjacent piece pointing at it, but the square it is moving to has a DEFENDING piece on it, then it is marked as DEAD. If an attacking/moving piece does not have an adjacent piece pointing at it, and the square it is moving to does not contain a DEFENDING piece, then it is marked as LIVING. The square it is moving to will either contain another attacking/moving piece, or will be empty.
3.  Remove all DEAD pieces.
4. Move all LIVING pieces to the square they're pointing at, or leave them where they are if they are defending.
5.  If there are two or more pieces in the same square, remove them.

When one player has pieces remaining, they win. If neither player has any pieces, they both loose. If no pieces are removed during a round, the game is over, and whichever player has more pieces wins.

/You could use size instead of color to make stashes if you're buying the new Treehouse sets, but be careful during the setup that you are random./

--
http://www.aericanempire.com
Because I want you to.


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